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Definition of Taghairm
1. Noun. An ancient divination method of the Highland Scots: The oracle of the hide in which a person was sewn into the hide of a freshly killed ox, and placed beside a waterfall. This would enable him to foresee the results of an impending battle. From Sir Walter Scott, ''The Lady of the Lake''. ¹
2. Noun. An ancient divination method of the Highland Scots, in which cats were roasted alive to call up the spirit of the demon cat who would grant the wishes of the torturers. Described in detail in the ''London Literary Gazette'' for March 1824. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Taghairm
1. divination [n -S]
Lexicographical Neighbors of Taghairm
Literary usage of Taghairm
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1900)
"taghairm, OR " GIVING HIS SUPPER TO THE DEVIL." The awful ceremony to which this
name was given was also known among old men as " giving his supper to the ..."
2. The London Encyclopaedia, Or, Universal Dictionary of Science, Art by Thomas Tegg (1829)
"taghairm, therefore, in its original import, is necromancy in the most proper sense
... There were different kinds of taghairm, of which one wae very lately ..."
3. The Lady of the Lake by Walter Scott (1908)
"How does the taghairm fit with the cross and its journey? How do they fit Roderick's
nature? ... What is the effect of this on your belief in the taghairm? ..."
4. Rhetoric and the Study of Literature by Alfred Marshall Hitchcock (1913)
"Which to you is the more gruesome, the taghairm or the ceremony connected with
the preparation of the Fiery Cross? 5. Tell the story of Alice Brand, ..."
5. Hood's Magazine and Comic Miscellany by Thomas Hood (1844)
"Of the taghairm, which is said, literally, to signify " an echo," and of which
such a thrilling description is given in the fourth canto of " The Lady of ..."
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